The Limitations of a Broken Agent
by Luciemort
Summary: “You’re the furthest thing from a cripple I’ve ever seen.” When we're broken, sometimes all we need is a little push to get us back on our feet. Gabrielle/OC


It was a wonderful day outside. It was one of those days that looked like someone's gone and intensified the colour by fifty percent, where everything looks so natural it makes you forget about all the bad things that are happening in the world. The trees on the grounds blew in unison with a gentle autumn breeze, and the lawn was a near perfect sea of green with not a blade out of place. In the distance, visible if you squinted slightly was a large athletics track, where children were in the process of being drilled relentlessly by a tall, dark skinned woman. The kids ran seemingly endless laps pushed to near total exhaustion, but it was still better than being stuck in a chair. To Alice that was paradise, running madly until it felt like her legs would drop of, gasping for air that didn't seem to be filling her lungs and the pain of every muscle she ever used - and even some that she had yet to discover – for no real point but to feel the blissful burn of knowing she'd reached her limit. It didn't hurt that with that exhaustion she knew that she could probably eat her weight in chocolate at dinner that evening. That would likely never happen again.

"Miss Rose, are you even listening to a word I am saying?" Unfortunately, all of that was happening outside, and Alice was inside. Inside was quite horrible indeed, and although Zara's office was more comfortable and relaxed than most of the other offices on campus, she was still not having the best day of her life. She turned her head to the woman who was addressing her, an old and wrinkly thing, whose grey hair was all piled up on top of her head and whose most prominent feature was a large, hooked nose. All in all, the lady looked like a vulture, or at least a vulture old enough to have five living generations following her. Alice gave the avian-like woman a blank look, and she continued with her speech, of which Alice imagined her practicing in front of her mirror for hours on end.

"Miss Rose, on behalf of the Ethics Committee I would like to express my greatest apologies for under rating your last mission. It was a high-risk mission, and we see the severity of that now. It should have never been classed as moderate risk." The bird like ethics committee member apologised to Alice slightly too quickly, and with too much ease, so the young CHERUB agent looked on sceptically, but before she could say anything, bird woman continued her speech.

"We understand the position you are in—" That had done it. Alice was no longer the quiet and obedient girl, she had snapped.

"Understand? How could you possibly understand the position I'm in? Might I ask if you've ever been shot in the spine? Hm? Are you stuck in a wheelchair?" Alice all but shouted at the woman who watched, looking quite shocked. Before she could say anything that she would regret, Zara rose out of her chair next to the committee member, and looked at the agent with a calm and motherly expression.

"Alice, please calm down. You have a right to be angry, but shouting at Mrs Blaine is not an outlet for your rage." Zara said in a calm voice that was contagious. It wasn't exactly what she said that shut Alice up, but it was her tone, her strict but understanding voice that had dealt with hundreds of toddler tantrums and catastrophes. Once a silence had washed over her office, Zara sat back in her seat, looking at Alice intently but sympathetically. Alice mentally forgave Zara for pitying her, because the chairwoman was one of her favourite members of staff. Bird woman continued.

"Like I said, we are all very sorry for what happened to you, but we must discuss your relocation." Mrs Blaine said the words, but she didn't really felt sorry. It was all in the eyes, and in the way that she moved strait onto to topic of relocation.

"Relocation? You mean leaving CHERUB?" Alice couldn't believe what she was hearing, but yet again the vulture listened not to what Alice was saying; she went on with her pre prepared speech.

"You may talk it over with Mrs Asker, but I must go now; I have other appointments. You have my card Alice, don't hesitate to call if you need to talk anything over." With that empty invitation, she stood from her seat next to Zara, shook hands with her and left, without so much as a goodbye. Alice turned to Zara, anger in the form of tears welling up in her eyes.

"You want to move me?" Alice yelled.

"Alice, you have to understand that-"

What am I supposed to understand? That an amazing agent is put in a chair by a mistake made by CHERUB, and you're punishing the agent?" Angry tears rolled down her pale cheeks as she yelled her case to the chairwoman. Zara gave a grim smile. Even after all of this, Alice was certainly an amazing agent.

"This isn't punishment. We just think that you would be better suited with a foster family that would be equipped for your disability." Zara said quietly to the girl across the table. Alice slammed her fists down on the polished wood.

"Bullshit!"

"Alice!"

"Sorry Zara, but that's bullshit. You have a multimillion-pound mission control building, and you can't spare a few hundred to make campus a bit accessible? All I'm asking for is a couple of ramps, I've got everything else!" As she shouted, Alice's hears of anger quickly turned to tears of anguish.

"You know it's not that simple." Zara replied quietly, almost to tears herself.

"I don't care! You know as well as I know that CHERUB is my life. I have a great education, an amazing girlfriend and six languages mastered. What would I have without CHERUB? No education, no girlfriend, six less languages and a black eye." She smiled sadly, taking a breath before she spoke again. "You know what? Without CHERUB, I'd probably be locked in the shed right now, in a wheelchair anyway because of that bastard of a father. At least here I sacrificed my legs for something meaningful, right?" Asked Alice. The tears now flowed freely from her emerald eyes, but no sound was made. She was strong.

"Don't think you can just whisk me away either. You'd have to drag me, kicking and screaming. Ah well, no so much kicking anymore, but you'd have so set all of the CHERUB agents on me, and I could take every one. At the same time. Even Kerry." She smiled and even Zara gave a little laugh.

"Of course, Alice. We wouldn't dream of moving you without your consent." Zara answered the young agent comfortingly. It seemed to dry the eyes of the navy shirt across from her. "If you want to stay here, we can arrange something. You'll have a different schedule to everyone else, and it will twice as difficult than what you're used to. Just keep that in mind, alright?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Alice remarked with a grin. "Thanks Zara."

"You don't need to thank me for anything, Alice." Zara answered, getting out of her seat to squat beside the young girl. Alice wheeled herself around to face the chairwoman, and she did something she had only done three times in her life; she hugged Zara Asker. Zara was a mother to a lot of people, not including her young son and daughter. As most CHERUB agents are orphans, they'll cling to anyone who shows them love and support. For most, these people are friends, others have boyfriends or girlfriends and for a large portion of the agents who live on campus, staff members become their surrogate parents, even if they won't admit it. Alice and Zara separated from their hug, and Alice turned herself around to leave. She was stopped however, by the chairwoman's voice behind her.

"And Alice, you know that you can always call me. I wouldn't worry much about Mrs Blaine." Zara said sincerely. Alice spun back around and nodded.

"I know. All I was planning to do to her card was burn it." The young agent retorted, making Zara smile.

"Do you need any help?" Asked the chairwoman before Alice left.

"Nah, Gabrielle's waiting outside for me." Responded Alice. Zara approved this with a nod, and Alice was out the door, glad to be rid of the office. Quite frankly, all she wanted to do was have a nice hot bath and read a book.

Gabrielle waited outside the Chairwoman of CHERUB's office for her girlfriend. She laughed under her breath when she realised that when people sat on the row of stiff plastic chairs outside Zara's office, they were either in deep shit, or waiting of someone who was in deep shit. As far as she knew Alice wasn't in shit, but Gabrielle wouldn't be surprised. It doesn't take much for Alice – or any of her friends for that matter – to get in trouble. They liked to believe that it wasn't their fault, that trouble just followed them around like an invisible parasite. This however, was not the case. This was the case of waiting for her girlfriend who may or may not be leaving CHERUB. She really didn't want Alice to leave, obviously. She loved her dearly and didn't want to lose her.

As Gabrielle contemplated what could happen to her girlfriend, the agent in question wheeled herself through Zara's office door. Gabrielle stood up and looked at Alice. She was beautiful to her. Long brown hair was curly and slightly messy, indicating she hadn't brushed it since yesterday which was odd, seeming that she was usually very well kept. Gabrielle frowned as she looked at her girlfriend's face. What used to be pale skin was red and puffy, especially around her deep green eyes. Alice had been crying.

"Jesus, Alice. What happened?" The Jamaican girl questioned the shorter, pale skinned girl, worry showing greatly in her voice. Alice sniffed, but looked up and smiled.

"Everything's fine, Gabby. I just got a bit emotional, that's all." She answered confidently.

"Everything's fine? So, you get to stay?"

"They couldn't make me leave, even if they wanted to." Gabrielle grinned bigger than Alice ever could, and leant in to kiss her. It seemed to cheer her up considerably, and the two agents made their way towards Alice's room. Alice wheeled herself in front of Gabrielle before she could push her wheelchair because she needed to feel that she was still independent, even after all of this. Gabrielle sighed and gave up, walking beside her girlfriend.

"I'm glad, you know." Gabrielle remarked after a minute or two of silence.

"I know. I'm glad too. Zara said that things are going to be more difficult for me, but I'd prefer it to living somewhere in London with a bunch of other cripples." Alice replied with a small grin. Gabrielle grinned back.

"You're the furthest thing from a cripple I've ever seen."

"But, the wheelchair?"

"Doesn't make you a cripple. You know as well as I do that you can kick some serious arse, even in the chair."

"True. It just sounds so much more lovely coming from your mouth." Alice grinned cheekily. Gabrielle looked at her in mock surprise.

"You bitch." She said playfully with a smile, kicking the right wheel of Alice's wheelchair softly. Alice swerved before composing herself.

"You love me, though." She laughed, sticking her tongue out. Gabrielle soon chimed in with her alto laugh that Alice loved so much. It dissolved quickly as she rolled to a stop. Gabrielle looked up to see why they weren't moving anymore. The couple were at the bottom of a small flight of stairs.

"Figures." Alice said quietly, her voice wavering, "Girl can kick bum, but is foiled by a flight of stairs." She tried to disguise the weakness in her voice for a laugh, but Gabrielle saw through it. She had known Alice for too long not to know when she was crying. She rubbed soothing circles into her girlfriend's back with a gentle hand, and grabbed hold of the handles of her wheelchair. Alice didn't bother protesting as she was lead to another entrance to her room.

"Stairs are overrated anyway." Gabrielle said, trying to cheer up Alice. "But elevators, now those are sexy beasts." It half worked as she heard her girlfriend give a soft, half-hearted laugh but a laugh nonetheless.

By the time Alice had cheered up, they had reached her room.

"Want me to come in?" Gabrielle asked.

"You might as well." Answered Alice as she jammed her key into the lock, thanking god that it opened inwards. Alice wheeled herself into the spacious area and Gabrielle followed, dumping her bag on the bench of the kitchenette. The room was ridiculously clean, especially as it was the room of a teenage girl. The walls were all painted white, but had vinyl stickers wherever there was space for them. Because of that, the room was home to black trees, birdcages and blades of grass. Alice wheeled herself to her four-poster bed and expertly shifted herself out of her chair and onto the mess of baby blue blankets and sheets. Gabrielle gave a small laugh. The other girl gave her a death glare.

"What?" Asked Alice, her eyes drilling holes into Gabrielle's skull.

"It's just that, you're a lot stronger than you think you are. You'll get through this." Answered Gabrielle before looking at her watch. "Ah, crap. I've got to run. I'll see you soon though." And with that, She approached Alice and gave her a small kiss on the forehead, before jogging out the door to leave Alice with her thoughts.

It turned out that Alice had quite a lot of thoughts.


End file.
